Mall Shows New North Pole Village

Mall St. Shopping as recreation

November 29, 1990|By Ron Patrizio of The Sentinel Staff

The church's brightly colored, onion-shaped domes tower 35 feet above Winter Park Mall's center court. On one side of the village, Santa's helpers are busy inside their two-story log workshop crafting presents for children around the world.

Around the corner, a bearded, fat man wearing a fuzzy red suit smiles as he greets dozens of anxious children every hour. They look perplexed, seeming unsure of visiting Santa.

''A Celebration of Tradition'' is the brainchild of mall manager John Lincoln, who conceived the idea more than a year ago.

Lincoln enlisted the creative talents of Samuel Taylor, a decoration designer for malls nationwide. The two then developed the Christmas display from photographs and elements from a number of eastern European cultures. The $60,000 village was built in Phoenix, Ariz.

The town church was inspired by the towers and domes of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, and Santa's house is a scaled-down version of an actual church in Arkhangelsk, a historic town in the Soviet Union, he said.

''When the Berlin Wall came down I realized that new communication between the East and West presented a chance to help promote a cultural exchange,'' Lincoln said. ''So I started working on a way to show children in Orlando what Santa would look like in Russia.''

Saint Nicholas, or Santa Claus, Lincoln said, is the patron saint of Russia and Greece. His sleigh and reindeer come from Lapland, a land to the far North which includes parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Soviet Union. In Russia, an old woman, or a baboushka, visits children on Christmas Eve and gives each child a present. In the Ukraine, young singers go caroling from house to house. Romanian carolers carry a steau, or wooden star, adorned with bells.

In Poland, children write letters to the Three Wise Men asking for presents. But only those who have been good will find them on the fireplace mantel. Czechoslovakian and German families decorate a tree on Christmas Eve. ''There are so many Christmas customs here which are traceable to Eastern Europe,'' Lincoln said. ''This centerpiece lets us go back to the original roots.''

Regardless of where the legend of Santa Claus started, children and adults are drawn to his magical qualities.